The weather may be variable these days, but signs generally look like we're finally headed for spring and summer.

Summer. You know, days on the water, flowers blooming in the garden, convertibles riding the highways.

Convertibles. Those cars usable only for two or three months each year in the North Country. But with enough panache to make them worthwhile.

Until June 1, the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Spa State Park hosts a terrific display called "Romance of the Roadster," a tribute to those venerable two-seater convertibles with sports car flair. Or, as the exhibit introduction proclaims, "two people, two seats, unbridled horsepower to burn, and a winding road ahead."

STANLEY STEAMER

I'm not really an auto aficionado, but these cars are wonderful. Especially the older ones. Like a 1916 Stanley Steamer Model 726, whose engine had a mere 13 moving parts but could top 127 miles per hour at Daytona. Another man visiting the museum noted, "This came into being the same year I did."

Or a 1917 Model T Runabout, purchase price $345. That same man pointed out the choke wire coming out through the front grille.

The 1932 metallic green Ford on display is the very one Ricky and David Nelson drove on the "Ozzie and Harriet Show." Ricky wanted to buy it after the filming, but Ozzie refused -- "No 1932 Ford is worth $3,000." Usually Ozzie was proved right. The actual sale price in 2003? $192,000. Score one for Ricky.

Race cars influenced the evolution of the roadster, but actually, the direct line of descent came from the two-seat horse carriage. Believe me, no horse ever expected to pull something like a 1938 Jaguar SS 100, with its aerodynamic curves, folding windshield, wire wheels and fenders reminding me of Nike swooshes. It's called "the quintessential 1930s-era British sports model." Who am I to argue?

However, it's hard to beat the red and yellow 1932 Auburn 12-160A Speedster, with its back-slanting windshield, side-mounted spare tires and pointed hood.

There wasn't much to dislike among the eight newer varieties on display, either. What is negative to say about a 1966 Corvette 427 Sting Ray, 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL or a 1960 Porsche 356B Super 90 Roadster?

LOZIER, OF COURSE

My wife Marty's favorites would include the 1956 Austin Healey 100M (similar to the model she had to sell when we got married) and the 1956 Jaguar XK. As for me, I think I'd choose the sleek Italian-made 1955 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder. Jet black, with red leather seats, it would turn plenty of heads along Lake Champlain or in the Adirondacks.

The second floor of the museum features permanent exhibits, most notably "East of Detroit," an installation on automobile manufacturing in New York state. At one time or another, more than 100 companies built cars in the Empire State.

One, of course, was Lozier, who made luxury vehicles at its Plattsburgh plant from 1905 through 1910. (If you've never seen the fabulous specimen that anchors the Lake Champlain Transportation Museum on the growing museum campus on the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base, you need to go.)